Earlier: Akin: 'Legitimate rape' rarely leads to pregnancy

Todd Akin, Missouri’s Republican Senate candidate, sparked controversy with a claim, made in a TV interview posted Sunday, that victims of “legitimate rape” very rarely get pregnant because their bodies prevent them from doing so.

Speaking to Charles Jaco on the Jaco Report on St. Louis’s Fox station, Akin was answering a question about allowing abortions in the case of rape. He said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

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Akin, who is attempting to oust Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, also stated that if a women did conceive after a rape, he would still oppose abortion in this case because “the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Later Sunday, Akin released a three-paragraph statement on his campaign’s website explaining the remarks:

“In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,” the statement said.

Akin also stated: “I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action.”

A video of the interview was posted on the station’s website. The host had introduced Akin by describing his credentials as one of the more conservative members of Congress.

Akin, a six-term congressman, recently emerged from a three-way primary against John Brunner and Sarah Steelman to earn the right to challenge McCaskill, who is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

McCaskill, according to the Associated Press, elaborated later by email: “It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape,” she said. “The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive.”

As Akin’s comments circulated, the blogosphere lit up with reactions. Posted on the Daily Kos: “The GOP’s Senate nominee in Missouri, Rep. Todd Akin, is fluent in wacked-out crazy.”

During his Jaco Report interview, Akin also talked about potentially turning over school-lunch programs to the states, and spoke of the potential of repealing the 17th Amendment, which allows for the direct election of U.S. senators, among other topics.

Recent polling has shown Akin slightly ahead of McCaskill. Nate Silver, writing last week on the New York Times’s Five Thirty Eight page said, “Mr. Akin’s polling lead has been consistent enough that I now view the race as tilting toward him.”